Hey Judges - Pork Rule

[BMerrill]

Show the picture to the rep at the next contest and see what the rep says.
The answer is in the meaning of trimming in No. 2. Trimming is limited to removal of unwanted fat or gristle anything beyond that is parting which is not allowed.

Maybe a rep will chime in and give his opinion.

[Burnt at Both Endz]

What is confusing is this is the pork rule....
Rule 10)
Pork: Pork is defined at Boston Butt, Boston Roast, Picnic and/or Whole Shoulder, weighing a minimum of four (4) pounds at the time of inspection. After trimming, pork shall be cooked whole (bone in or bone out), however, once cooked, it may be separated and returned to the cooker at the cook's discretion. It may be turned in chopped, pulled, chunked, sliced or a combination of any of these.

Now tell me if/when you trim a brisket to fit a box, do you just remove the fat and gristle?

Clear as day now...LOL!

[2Fat]

Originally Posted by pahutchens

I'm judging a double KCBS this weekend in IA will keep an eye on the boxes for new trends

see you there!!

[Pappy Q]

Originally Posted by Burnt at Both Endz

What is confusing is this is the pork rule....
Rule 10)
Pork: Pork is defined at Boston Butt, Boston Roast, Picnic and/or Whole Shoulder, weighing a minimum of four (4) pounds at the time of inspection. After trimming, pork shall be cooked whole (bone in or bone out), however, once cooked, it may be separated and returned to the cooker at the cook's discretion. It may be turned in chopped, pulled, chunked, sliced or a combination of any of these.

Now tell me if/when you trim a brisket to fit a box, do you just remove the fat and gristle?

Clear as day now...LOL!

It's a PORK rule not a brisket rule. My opinion (Not that it matters) is that the picture in question is legal but violates the the intention of the rule. It makes those who do it feel as if they are not doing anything wrong, which technically they're not . Personally I would not do it as it just doesn't seem right but I don't care if others do. The reality is that it's a self policed rule and you only have to convince yourself what's wrong or right.

[big brother smoke]

I thought the polar vortex subsided. This is a winter discussion, Geez!

[GrillBillie_D]

Originally Posted by BMerrill

The answer is in the meaning of trimming in No. 2. Trimming is limited to removal of unwanted fat or gristle anything beyond that is parting which is not allowed.

There is a layer of fat that separates the MM from the rest of the butt...so removing nearly all of that fat but not completely separating it (or parting) would still be legal.

Is that in the spirit of the rule? Most people (including myself) say no but lets not re-hash the meaning of the rule again.

[hogzgonewild]

Just for clarification, I showed my picture to a KCBS rep today, and they said there was no problem cooking it that way from 0-145*....then separating the money muscle off if I wanted to.

[Cue's Your Daddy]

The more rules they add to simplify the process, makes for more debate.

[Big Mike]

The pic of the butt is not an example of parting. Parting is to completely separate.

Parting: the action of dividing something into parts.
synonyms:division, dividing, separation, separating, splitting, breaking up/apart

[Atlasman]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

The pic of the butt is not an example of parting. Parting is to completely separate.

Parting: the action of dividing something into parts.
synonyms:division, dividing, separation, separating, splitting, breaking up/apart

The dictionary definition of parting means nothing.......the KCBS definition is what matters and they clearly state Trimming means to remove unwanted fat or gristle, anything beyond that is considered parting.

Honestly, I don't see how that picture can be legal. If that's the case then just let people cut it up and cook it however they want. It's beyond stupid to think that at no time with guys trimming down to that one inch attachment that they won't accidentally break off or separate at some point during transfer and I HIGHLY doubt anyone is going to DQ themselves if their MM fell off at 130 degrees instead of 145.

I don't mean this to be offensive in any way to anyone but seriously.......if you are spending all your time figuring out ways to "bend" or "interpret" the rules then you probably would be much better off just cooking better BBQ.

Cook some great tasting pork and you won't have to worry about rules.

I don't really understand what the fuss is all about anyways as anyone with basic knife skills can trim a butt so you get a MM with 80-90% bark on it with the only "bare spot not visible to the judges and all you need is a Cambro and some speed to make up for any temp difference you want between portions of your butt..........or just cook 2 or more and use parts from each one taken off at temps of your choosing.